Victory Brewing Company HopDevil IPA

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Here’s the third of the six beer reviews I did from that dark hotel room in San Antonio, TX.  Although many of the beers I picked up that night were from Texas brewers, I did manage to pick up a couple beers from brewers outside of Texas.

Tonight’s featured beer is Victory Brewing Company HopDevil IPA.  I had heard a lot about Victory Brewing Company and how good their beers are so I was very happy to find HopDevil IPA at the store.

From the Victory Brewing Company website:” Menacingly delicious, with the powerful, aromatic punch of whole flower American hops backed up by rich, German malts. HopDevil Ale® offers a roller coaster ride of flavor, coasting to a smooth finish that satisfies fully.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a deep amber with a small white head and good lacing.

Aroma: Spicy hop aroma, citrus, grapefruit and pine with malts bringing up the backend. Great to breathe in.

Taste: Following the nose with grapefruit, citrus and pine hop flavors. Nicely balanced with sweet malts. Not as “devilish” as I had expected.

Overall: Solid and very drinkable, Victory Brewing Company’s HopDevil IPA isn’t the California hop bomb that I have grown accustomed to, but it is balanced well and certainly a top notch IPA.  At 6.7% ABV I could see drinking a few of these.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey